CHAMBERSBURG - Wandering around the historical streets of Chambersburg, dozens of adults, teens and children are pausing at random, faces buried in their phones, animated creatures and items their goal.

"Hey, what team are you guys on?" a passerby asked me on the square. Team Mystic of course, I said. He seemed to appreciate that as he wandered away. I'm pretty sure I saw him trying to take the gym just outside the Franklin County Courthouse.

If I sound crazy, it's because I'm talking about the in-app world that Pokemon Go has changed Franklin County and the rest of the world into this week. Nintendo's Pokemon Go app premiered on iPhone and Android phones in the United States on July 7, and quickly went viral.

The game generates Pokemon, animated animal-like figures, that you can catch, train and battle with using items and stops put right in your neighborhood. The game uses historical landmarks and other places of importance as Pokestops (the Public Opinion building, which was home to the old Cumberland Valley Railroad Station, is one) where you can stock up on items to help you catch, heal and lure Pokemon.

The game has seemingly become a sneaky way to get people outside, into their communities, to not only learn about the history of the place they live but get exercise while they do it. Pokemon don't appear if you're going too fast, and you can hatch Pokemon eggs if you walk enough to incubate them in-game.

Justin Kraynek, 26, grew up watching the show and collecting Pokemon cards when it was a new thing in the 1990s. We were brought up in the original craze, playing the card game and video games. Kraynek said to this day he still has and sometimes plays the card version. Personally, I still have my full collection of cards at home, but they're a little dusty.

"Yesterday I caught a 320 Electrobuzz," Kraynek said, when he used an item to lure the Pokemon to him in-game. His favorite Pokemon are his Eevees, including an 800 Vaporeon.

The numbers and names might sound like gibberish, but it all has to do with the battle portion of the game. And while the game hasn't fully developed ways to trade Pokemon with friends and work together, it's still greatly changing how the community socializes.

"I've pretty much just walked around and found a lot of people," Kraynek said. "Even at night time, there's a ton of people. Like I pulled up at the (Coyle Free) library and last night there was like 15 people standing out there trying to take the gym."

And like everyone else, the walking is helping him get additional exercise he might not otherwise have gotten.

"I usually get my exercise because I work in a warehouse, so like I lose all my weight through there. But when I don't work, I would usually be at home, playing my video games or whatever," Kraynek said. "And since then, I've done about 17km just on Satuday, Sunday, Monday."

For those of us not so versed in the metric system, that's about 10 and a half miles. Personally, I've walked about the same, but plenty of that is wandering around with the app open while I go to court, offices, or other areas.

How long will this phenomenon last? Who knows, but for now, if you see us Pokemon-focused zombies, be friendly, ask if they caught something fun or claimed the gym they're at. We're all just trying to be the very best trainers, after all.